Baseball Trivia (General)/Questions
| Subject | Date Asked | Expert |
| Red Sox No Hitters, 1950-1970 | 1/25/2012 | Tom Schott |
| Q: Tom, This is a question that covers a few categories. Maxim magazine published an article about a ... A: David, There were four Red Sox no-hitters thrown from 1950 to 1970. None of them, as far as I can ... | ||
| Steve Korcheck | 12/13/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: Steve Corchek (only spelling it like it sounds). Said he played for the Washington Senators. Met a ... A: Susan, I don't know if would be possible to run Korcheck down through his old club, but it is worth ... | ||
| Wild Card World Series Winners | 10/18/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: I've always disliked the idea of a wild card winning the World Series. Seems silly to me to consider ... A: Steve. I hate the idea of wild card teams myself, and it may get even worse with baseball ... | ||
| General BB Questios | 10/7/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: why does only one play per team wear the old time type uniform. why do most of the players wear what ... A: Larry, What do you mean by "old time type uniform"? If you are referring to the fact that some ... | ||
| First Use of Base Coaches | 9/20/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: What year were base coaches first allowed to be used in baseball games? A: Jack, The first guy to coach on the bases was a guy named Artie Latham . . . for Cincinnati in ... | ||
| Oakland A's uniform | 9/17/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: Why does the Oakland A's have an elephant on their (left) sleeve? Thanks, Nancy A: Nancy, It's a good question. Years ago, way back near the beginning of the 19th century, when ... | ||
| Catcher signals | 8/30/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: I heard an interview the other day with a professional catcher. He was talking about how he ... A: In the early days of the game it was the pitcher who signaled the pitch. But it eventually became ... | ||
| Why is Pitcher's Mound Elevated? | 8/26/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: Why is the pitcher,s mound in baseball elevated? A: Carol, Good question. The movement towards raising the pitcher's mound originated sometime in the ... | ||
| Fielder's Choice? | 8/15/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: I saw one your answers to another post regarding what is considered a Fielder's Choice. I'm ... A: David, 1. This would be scored as a base hit for the batter with the runner thrown out on the ... | ||
| Shortstop Origin | 8/11/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: Origin of shortstop specifically regarding placement in field - do you think this is because the ... A: According to Peter Morris in "A Game of Inches" vol. 1, the position began evolving in 1849. An ... | ||
| Fielder's Choice | 8/4/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: Game situation: Runner at second base, batter hits ground ball to shortstop who fields ball and ... A: Thomas: Here's the official definition of fielder's choice from the rules: FIELDER'S CHOICE is the ... | ||
| 12 Worls Champion Dodgers Photos | 7/30/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: Tom, I did some more research today and found that these photos had to be from the 1956 season ... A: Claudia, Here are the answers I got from the people that responded to my query. I don't know how ... | ||
| Bats and batboys | 7/30/2011 | George W. Case III |
| Q: I have two questions: 1) Do major league players have to buy their own bats? 2) Are the batboys ... A: Major league players do not buy their own bats - the team buys them but in many instances the bat ... | ||
| Worst BA/Fewest HR for HOF Pitchers | 7/23/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: worst batting average and fewest home runs? A: David, The worst batting average for a Hall of Fame pitcher based on at least 500 plate ... | ||
| Post-season team scoring | 7/7/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: I've been told that the 1981 NLDS and NLCS are the only post-season series (playoffs and World ... A: Research did not take long: there have been two World Series where the losing team in each game ... | ||
| Post-season team scoring | 7/6/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: I've been told that the 1981 NLDS and NLCS are the only post-season series (playoffs and World ... A: Bill, Yes, your information is correct. But it apples only to the 1981 NLCS and the NL Western ... | ||
| 3-Game Win Droughts | 7/6/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: Has a team ever gone an entire season without stringing together 3 wins? And if so, what is the ... A: Tim, Thanks for the interesting question. Three game droughts have occurred a bazillion times in ... | ||
| Teams Scoring Every Inning | 6/28/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: Tonight, the Dodgers scored in every inning except two (2) in their 15-0 win at Minnesota, so I was ... A: I am going to ignore games from the 19th century in this answer, and only consider games from the ... | ||
| Percentage of Runs Scored as Result of HRs | 6/23/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: What is the percent of all runs scored by home runs to total runs scored? Is there an historical ... A: Mike, The percentage of runs that are attributable to HRs . . . this question is going to take ... | ||
| Most Consecutive Hits by a Team at Start of Game | 6/22/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: The MN Twins played on 6-21-11 against the SF Giants. They started the game with all of the first 8 ... A: Hey, Robert, The greatest number of consecutive hits in the same inning by a MLB team is 11, by ... | ||
| Bullpen Carts | 6/17/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: can you help me win a family arugment? I remember as a kid in the 60"s seeing a golf cart type of ... A: You are not crazy. MLB teams did use golf carts, and some teams used real cars to deliver pitchers ... | ||
| pitchers filling in | 6/14/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: Schott, thanks for reading my question. I don't know a lot of baseball history, so my apologies if ... A: Rem, I have seen extra-inning games that ended up in situations like this. I cannot remember ... | ||
| MLB Three Wins in One Day | 6/7/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: I know of one major league baseball team that has won three games in one day. Has any other team ... A: There are three recorded instances of a tripleheader in Major League Baseball, indicating three ... | ||
| Player Who Retired Mid-season after a Game | 5/9/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: I once saw on the MLB network a short blurb about a player (a pitcher I think) who in the middle of ... A: CJ, I was not able to answer this question myself, but I have lots of knowledgeable baseball ... | ||
| Halladay's 18 Straight Strikes | 5/1/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: I just read that, in yesterday's game against the Mets, Roy Halladay started the game by throwing ... A: Steve, I don't think taken literally it would be mean consecutive strikeouts, but that is neither ... | ||
| Rules clarification | 4/27/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: This very well might be a simple question - but I've looked and I can't seem to find the answer. ... A: The batter is up the next inning. As for recording, whatever happened during the at bat in which the ... | ||
| Question about Run Scoring on a Balk | 4/25/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: The other night a Kansas City pitcher balked home a Cleveland runner from third base. Two questions ... A: Jim. 1. I cannot tell you whether the run is earned or not without knowing what the play-by-play ... | ||
| No Grand Slam HRs, Season, Team | 4/20/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: Has a team ever gone a whole season without a grand slam? A: A lot of teams did this, a lot. There were at least 2 teams, and usually several teams, that had no ... | ||
| 2011 Ballparks | 4/3/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: For 2011, according to left, center, and right field walls, what's the biggest field in the MLB ? A: Adam, Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_park#Current_Major_League_ballparks. There you ... | ||
| Which More Rare: 3-Pitch Inning or Perfect Game? | 2/11/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: I have always heard that the three pitch is the rarest thing to happen in all of baseball. But last ... A: Jim, The perfect game would be far, far more rare. There have only been 20 of those in baseball ... | ||
| White Sox-Cubs Exhibition Game in 1907? | 2/5/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: I've read that Marshall Field's held a company picnic at the Monon Park in Cedar Lake, Indiana in ... A: Carol, So sorry. I thought I had answered this days ago. In fact, I had typed up the response but ... | ||
| HOF and Balks | 1/21/2011 | Tom Schott |
| Q: Who (and what) determines what baseball players are kept off the ballot for Hall voting? Just for ... A: John, Once a player has been out of the game for 5 years, he is on the ballot and member of the BB ... | ||
| Home-run vs. Strike-out Ratio | 12/10/2010 | Tom Schott |
| Q: What players have the worst home-run to strike-out ratio? Obviously, with a minimum number of ... A: Great question! Attached is a table showing information on all the major leaguers with over 1500 Ks ... | ||
| All Starters w/at least One Hit & One Run in a Game | 12/1/2010 | Tom Schott |
| Q: Dr. Schott, While perusing the box score of the game that ended Lou Gerhrig's streak, I noticed ... A: This has happened hundreds and hundreds of times; it's happened hundreds of times when players on ... | ||
| new york giant player search | 11/24/2010 | George W. Case III |
| Q: Need to find history of a player named lefty whitlock I dont know his first name. He was a first ... A: I'm not certain but you may be referring to Whitey Lockman - a left-handed first baseman who played ... | ||
| Baseball | 11/3/2010 | George W. Case III |
| Q: Good morning. I once heard about 3 team members who played well together, often performing triple ... A: "Tinker to Evers to Chance" - Chicago Cubs Great infield - although they played together for quite ... | ||
| pitchers mound | 11/2/2010 | George W. Case III |
| Q: Watching the world series and husband said that pitcher had to stay on mat or rubber strip. Neither ... A: It is called the rubber - pitcher must be in contact with the rubber when he goes into his windup - ... | ||
| Pitchers batting Average | 10/30/2010 | Tom Schott |
| Q: Which League (National or American) Pitchers have the best batting average? During World Series, ... A: I'm sorry I could not answer your question, but if you were offended by the reply and thought it ... | ||
| uniforms | 10/25/2010 | George W. Case III |
| Q: Why don't the Yankees have the name of the players on the back of the shirt I followed your dad's ... A: My father played his first major league game in Philadelphia at Shibe Park in September 1937 and we ... | ||
| Most HR by Decade, 1940-2009 | 9/16/2010 | Tom Schott |
| Q: By decades (40s,50s,60s,70s,80s and 90s) who holds the record for the most home runs during each ... A: Hey, Jim: 1940s Ted Williams 234 1950s Duke Snider 326 1960s Harmon Killebrew 393 1970s ... | ||
Baseball Trivia (General)
Answers by Expert:
Tom Schott
Top Expert on this page
Expertise
I will deal with the major leagues only from 19th century to present. I`m good on baseball history, records, statistics, ballparks. I don't do off-the-field stuff. Please if you already know the answer to the question, please don't ask it. I don't want to play "stump the expert."
Experience
I've written on the subject, and I have substantial library of resources.
Organizations
SABR
Publications
Numerous encyclopedia, newspaper, magazine articles. One book, several book chapters.
Education/Credentials
Ph.D. in American history.
Awards and Honors
Bevy of writing awards.
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